DAVAO Light announced on Monday that the overall residential rate for September is up by P0.34 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
This brings the new rate to P13.24 kWh, up by P0.34/kWh from last month’s rate of P12.90/kWh.
Davao Light said this applies to the billing period of Sept. 11 to Oct. 10, 2026.
“The increase is mainly due to higher Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) prices,” Davao Light said in an advisory.
It added that the increase is also driven by tight power supply conditions in Mindanao, particularly during periods of high demand, raising the cost of electricity supplied to customers.
Davao Light said the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has directed the regional implementation of the Secondary Price Cap (SPC) in the Visayas and Mindanao grids, retroactive to August 2026 to help cushion customers from high WESM prices.
Under the said Order, the Commission directed the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) to implement the regional SPC retroactively for the August 2026 billing month.
The Commission directed the IEMOP to undertake the necessary adjustments to the applicable settlement calculations and recalculate the market settlements for the August 2026 supply billing period to reflect the regional application of the SPC.
Accordingly, all Distribution Utilities (DUs) that are in the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao Grid were directed to await and implement, in the September 2026 customer billings, the final WESM charges reflected in the Final Statement Bill to be issued by IEMOP.
Davao Light reportedly secured ERC approval to defer part of the generation charges.
This allows the amount to be collected in staggered basis instead of all at once, helping ease the impact of higher electricity costs.
It can be noted ERC has extended its moratorium on disconnections for another three months, through October, after an initial three-month order lapsed last July.
“Electricity rates may change from one billing period to another as generation costs and market conditions change,” the distribution utility said.
Customers are urged to continue practicing energy efficiency to help manage their electricity consumption and monthly bills.
Davao Light recommended checking the estimated daily or monthly energy usage for each appliance by determining the appliance wattage, the average number of hours the household uses it, the number of days the household uses the appliance in a month, and checking the rates.
To calculate the Kilowatt-Hours (kWh), the formula is Wattage / 1000 x Hours Used x Days = Total kWh. To estimate the cost, the total kWh should be multiplied by the rate.
Davao Light also confirmed to the City Council last August that it is in talks with Therma South Inc. (TSI) for an emergency power supply agreement (EPSA) to address the impact of spikes in spot market prices.
An EPSA is a short-term, negotiated power contract used by distribution utilities to address sudden electricity shortages, grid emergencies, or power gaps during peak demand periods.
